If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. (James 2:8-13 ESV)
I like omelets. There is just something about scrambled eggs, cheese, ham, a few select veggies and bacon that make breakfast worth having. But can you imagine making an omelet with just one rotten ingredient? What if I served you an omelet with rotten eggs? Or perhaps I made one with completely fresh ingredients but threw in rancid bacon? What if it were just one rotten egg or just a few pieces of rancid bacon? Just a little rottenness really ruins the whole omelet experience.
James writes that if you keep the whole law and break it at one point, you are guilty of breaking all of it. Sometimes we are tempted to think of our sins in different categories like big sins and little sins. Conveniently the little sins are sin that we are guilty of like showing partiality. The big sins tend to be ones that we don’t do like murder. The writer of James says that showing partiality is just like murder. An omelet with a little rottenness is a rotten omelet. A person who breaks the law just a little is a law breaker.
We should be merciful to others because God in Christ has been merciful to us. We should not show partiality to people based on whether they are rich or poor. God doesn’t show partiality to us. We need to remember that there is a judge of our actions and it isn’t us. Jesus will judge
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